Shattered Utopia
by Rath Raholand
Summary: Everything was perfect. I couldn't remember a time when I was happier. Everything seemed to be working out the way I wanted it to, and for once, no one suffered because of my happiness. And it was all thanks to him, loving me like none could love another. Thanks to him, I had my perfect Utopia, safe within it with him by my side. But then... a crack appeared... Dark yaoi, Wolf/Fox
1. Darkness

**_Shattered Utopia_ - Chapter 1~**

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**Author's Note: **This small story of mine was actually gonna be just small tidbits for art pieces I've been doing, but they seemed to have bloomed into something bigger, all thanks to Madame Bellatrix for inspiring me. Also, I should point out that this story of mine borrows heavily from her canon, so much so that you could call this a branch-off canon as I've also added a lot of my own. I'm trying to not stray too far from Star Fox lore, but I'm trying to have fun with it, so far I can stretch the bill. That said, I would highly recommend that you stop by Madame Bellatrix's library and read _The Breaking Game _as that is where a lot of the stuff that is referenced here comes from, such as the name Wolfus, Fox's thoughts back to when he had a discussion with Peppy about Wolf's past in chapter 2, the mask, etc. Seriously, reading her story first will give you the set-up to be able to go, "Ah, I recall that!" as of course I can't go into detail about everything here. _The Breaking Game_ is also overflowing with goodies. And when you're done, read her other stuff too! s/8861699/1/The-Breaking-Game-revised R&R please =3

**Also, links to the artwork that spawned this mini series can be found in my profile in the Current Projects sections at the bottom.**

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Darkness.

It was everywhere; I couldn't see anything, feeling around my only way of navigating. That and my gut guiding me forward, leading me through this forsaken place known as the Cursed Grounds among mercenaries. It was actually a maximum security prison deep underground that the public didn't know about, and that's how they wanted it. They gave you no rights here; you were less than shit to them. Torture and experimentation was commonplace here as there were so many guinea pigs no one on the surface would ever be seeing again anyway.

That was decades ago though. The place had been long since shut down for good when the right people happened upon it. The heads of the operation were brought to justice, the inmates transferred to regular prisons and the secret Hell officially decreed off-limits and abandoned. But…

Something stayed behind. Something unnatural, not of this world... Ghost stories among mercs are that it's a curse. I never believed them. Until that fateful day.

I heard something in the dark, reflexes putting me against a wall, blaster raised. I moved slowly, my ears swiveling every which way. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared shitless, but I wasn't going to be deterred. After a few minutes of slow movement, the wall ended and I found myself in a room that had a hint of light in some corners. I jumped when a red light against the far wall suddenly flickered on for half a second before shutting off. In that instant, I could have sworn I saw a silhouette of someone standing there… The light flickered again and then stayed on this time, confirming what I saw. The light was on the dimmer side and the glow of it framed the tall figure, leaving details barely visible or totally in darkness, but I knew who it was. My reason for coming down here.

Wolf.

He didn't move, just stood there as if frozen. After a moment, my eyes finally adjusted to let me take in more detail, but only a minute amount more than what I previously could. There was a chill running up and down my spine like something was terribly wrong, but I hoped with all I had that it was just the atmosphere of the place.

"Wolf? Wolf, are you all right?" I called. I waited for a response, but got none. My heart rate was picking up; I was getting more and more scared. I was praying now to whatever divine powers there were that this not be reality, that I just be stuck in some twisted nightmare. _Please, let it not be real. Don't do this to me… _

"Wolf? Wolf, answer me. It's me, Fox!" Once again, no answer. _I'm begging you… _

"Wolfus!" I stepped forward and suddenly, his eyes were glowing back at me with an eerie red, the left one looking normal despite that red while the right was uncovered, his eye patch missing, seeming to be stuck in a wide-eyed state with a glow brighter than the left. It was otherworldly. _No…_

I was too late. Something had taken my boyfriend from me and there was no reassurance that I would ever get him back. This was so paranormal, who would know what to do? Shit like this was so uncommon in the Lylat System that the probability of finding someone who could combat whatever darkness had ensnared this place, ensnared Wolf, was next to none. The most we had were those who were telepaths, like the Cerinians and those who could use bionics. It was the closest thing to psychic powers there were, but they certainly couldn't explain something this fucked up. My heart was breaking now as he continued to stare, though he suddenly seemed somewhat closer. I heard something drip and I glanced to see his claws dripping with liquid. I could only assume it was blood, either from himself or perhaps someone else was down here at one point. Returning my attention to his eyes, I could now tell he was indeed closer than he was a few seconds ago. He was coming at me slowly and I had reasons to believe he wouldn't spare me. I had a moment to decide; gun down the love of my life or turn tail and get the hell out of there, hoping to find a solution somewhere out there. As he moved again, I found myself running, hand against the wall to help lead me out. Five minutes later, I burst out into the air of Corneria and made a dash for my arwing a hundred yards or so from the hidden entrance. I didn't look back once; I dove in, started it up and flew off, my chest heaving as my heart rapidly pounded against it.

My thoughts were racing as I flew up through the clouds, mostly stuck on Wolf and what I had seen, what it had felt like to see him staring unnaturally at me like that. I was so lost in thought, I didn't even register the light jarring as I left the atmosphere of Corneria. Only when there was nothing but the blackness of space to look at did I snap back to reality, trying to shake my head clear as I made my way back to the Great Fox.

Once I was safe within the mother ship, I almost ran to my room. My commlink was vibrating with incoming calls, Falco, Peppy, Slippy and Krystal trying to call me, but I didn't pay it any attention. I got to my room and immediately sank into my bed, reaching for something on my night stand. My commlink was still going off, but I didn't care. I was busy. My heart was still shattering and I was sobbing, clutching a photo of Wolf and I for dear life.

I'd never cried so much in my life~


	2. Carnage

**_Shattered Utopia_ - Chapter 2~**

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**Author's Note: Links to the artwork that spawn each chapter can be found in my profile at the bottom in the Current Projects section!**

Also again, this story borrows heavily from Madame Bellatrix's canon in her story _The Breaking Game_, so much so that you could call this a branch-off canon as I've also added a lot of my own. I highly recommend that you stop by Madame Bellatrix's library and read _The Breaking Game _as that is where a lot of the stuff that is referenced here comes from, such as the name Wolfus, Fox's thoughts back to when he had a discussion with Peppy about Wolf's past in this chapter, the mask, etc.

R&R please =3

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Carnage.

That's all that came of my decision not to face Wolf and do something to save him that day. After I managed to pull myself together after a lot of self-pity, I spend all my free time aboard the Great Fox searching every corner of the galaxy web looking for anything that might help me save Wolf. The main problem was that I had no idea what kind of remedy I was looking for because I had no idea what was actually wrong with him to begin with. I didn't know if he was cursed, possessed or brainwashed, so I tried looking for something that would help with all three. This, however, proved insanely difficult. Like I said, this kind of supernatural shit just simply didn't really happen in Lylat, so I found myself at countless dead-ends and I was running out of patience. It was a few days later that General Pepper contacted me and gave me news that both shook and shocked me and I knew at that point I'd screwed up big time.

Wolf was waging war on Corneria.

At first, I didn't quite grasp what Pepper was telling me. Wolf was waging war? As in, duking it out with Corneria's military forces? How was he even managing to do that? I asked Pepper what kind of army Wolf had and where he managed to get one and I could only stare, mouth agape as Pepper told me in all seriousness that Wolf had no army and was doing it all alone. After asking him to elaborate a few times, he finally sent me footage of one of the battles. I was amazed, shocked, speechless, breathless, many things as I watched. My chest was tight as I confirmed Pepper's words. Wolf was single-handedly wasting a platoon of 50 soldiers as if he was fighting new recruits. He was quite literally a legion of one, using his claws and what looked like a sword. 'A sword? Wolf doesn't own a sword and no one's spotted him in the city… maybe it's _that_ sword?' As I pondered, my train of thought was shattered when I witnessed Wolf wield power of which the likes I've never seen. It was raw, destructive and it seemed every time he used it to do something, there was a huge area of devastation. This was so insanely out of hand now and I couldn't hide my guilt. I had to do something, I had to at least try to make things right. I wasn't going to sit around as the military was slaughtered, as Corneria paid for my weakness.

"General, Star Fox will join the battle and attempt to subdue Wolf. If we can avoid killing him, we're likely going to try those options first." I said, putting on my best leader face. I felt selfish saying that, considering what Wolf had done so far. Anyone else would have declared Wolf a dead man and done everything to take him out, an eye for an eye. But that isn't how I liked to do things, especially not now dealing with the most important person in my life. I liked to let the justice system punish the sins of criminals, and since I wasn't the justice system, I never felt the need to kill criminals in cold blood.

Andross was my first, and hopefully last, exception.

"Before you leap into the battle, Fox, consider that you might be leading your team into certain doom. As much faith as I have in Star Fox, Wolf is picking off chunks of the military like its second nature, putting him on a whole new level I wish none of us have to face. Fox, I know how much Wolf means to you… but he is now a threat to all of Corneria and in light of all he can do, the Directors are pushing for the AEGIS Package to be deployed. You know what that means, Fox." Pepper said sternly, but with an air of concern.

"Shit… shit shit shit!" I cursed. As much as I didn't want to admit it, if the military and Star Fox failed to stop him, the Directors wouldn't hesitate to attempt to nuke Wolf out of existence. I had to do this; I had no choice lest I lose Wolf all over again, this time forever.

"All right, sir. Star Fox will do all within our jurisdiction to try to subdue Wolf. If we can't pull it off, then…" I didn't want to say the last part, but Pepper's hologram nodded at me knowingly.

"Understood. Wolf never seems to move far from the prison and retreats within at random intervals. If we get close to the prison, he emerges and makes up sorry we did, but it seems that if we stay back, he doesn't come out anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Time is short, prepare as best you can and converge with us as soon as possible. Wolf recently retreated into the prison, allowing some time to breathe. We'll do what we can to hold him back until you arrive. Pepper out." he concluded, the connection closing.

I spent an hour doing nothing but straight thinking. I needed all the help and intel I could get, but hardly anyone knew Wolf better than I did, so it was all up to me. My thoughts were like a maze and I was attempting to go through it at every angle as to miss nothing. I pondered what I knew about Wolf's combat skills, his tendencies, his thought processes, how he liked to execute himself in combat, his abilities that I was aware of before all this and of course, his newer ones Pepper showed me, everything at all I knew about him up to this point. After I finished with my thoughts that hour or so later, I came away with two theories and two conclusions. My first theory related to Wolf's past. I remembered once when I visited Peppy looking for answers to Wolf's antics, he told me the story of the legendary Lycus Kane, ace pilot, ace ass-kicker and the fourth member of Star Fox back when my dad was alive and Pigma was still part of the team. He told me about how Lycus took down huge mercenary groups by himself under the guise of the Silver-Tailed Executioner. As I heard it, three things stood out about this guy.

The first was his weapons. He used these long-barreled twin blaster pistols, one having 'Let Live' written in silver on the barrel and the other having 'Let Die' written in the same manner. The difference between them was obvious enough; Let Live had a regulator attached at the end of the barrel, preventing it from firing laser bolts hot enough to kill, as well as having a stun module attached to the bottom while Let Die had a charge amplifier built in that could turn multiple targets to dust with one charged shot, a small particle beam attachment on top and a huge, gnarly obsidian bayonet attached to a small attachment that allowed it to slide back and forth along the barrel's length. It might as well have been a gunblade. The second thing people would notice was his abilities. Resilience, amplified strength, speed, flexibility, acrobatics, scaling 90 degree walls, moving so fast it could be described as teleporting, all things that would make people swear you were a fuckin' ninja. However, I knew that there was a reason he was able to do most these things and it happened to be the third feature that stood out on him, the one people noticed the most; the mask.

I've actually laid eyes on the mask before up close. It was an obsidian color and had a ton of master smith craftsmanship put into it, making it very ornate in appearance. Facial details were depicted in a very stylized fashion, such as the nose, the eye ridges, the jaws, even the teeth. It was one of those full head masks that look more like helmets, the top covering most the head with two layered sections that slid down in back to cover the rest of the head and "close" the mask securely over the head. Personally, I'd freak the hell out if I tried wearing it. It was obvious it was designed for a wolf's head anyway. Peppy somehow happened to have it in his possession, showing it to me as he talked about Lycus and it was when he showed me a photo of Lycus that I made the stunning realization that he and Wolf were the same person and that Lycus Kane was just one of Wolf's longer-running aliases he used to hide from the law. So, this mask; the way Peppy seemed to understand it, it functioned in a very similar fashion to Krystal's staff, but where Krystal's staff was its own conduit for its abilities like fireballs and ground quakes, the mask used Wolf's body as its conduit, explaining his unique abilities. He also heard that only a wolf could use it as it was apparently an ancient wolven relic from ages past given to him as a gift by an old wolfess living in the forests near the city. With all this in mind, my first theory was that Wolf was somehow using those abilities again, but this time, they were amplified and he had extra. So far as I knew, only his mask would allow him to do that, but from what I saw on the footage, Wolf had no mask on and Pepper didn't mention one in his briefing. Which brought me to my second theory; that sword Wolf had might be a relic like his mask. It was time to execute me conclusions, one of which would help me confirm my theories; visit that old wolfess in the forest and then rally Star Fox. Honestly, we haven't been Star Fox for a long time. I didn't exactly officially disband it, so it's more on a really long vacation unless we're really needed. And now there was pretty much no greater need for us. I called up everyone, including Panther and Leon, telling them to get themselves ready and that I'd call again when I was done gathering answers.

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Finding the old wolfess was actually pretty easy despite the density of the forests around the area. All I had to do was use a thermal scanner as I flew over the area and there she was, the only sentient heat source within a few miles. I found a small clearing to land in and hopped out, making my way through the trees as I secured my blaster to my side. I didn't anticipate having to use it, but I was unfamiliar with both the area and this woman, so better safe than sorry. A five minute walk lead me to what looked like a small ruin, stone architecture everywhere, a lot of it crumbling, covered in moss, ivory and branches from trees growing too close. I scanned the area and made my way to what looked like a stone door leading into a small stone structure I figured must be some kind of house. I beat on the stone lightly and called out.

"Hello? Is anyone home? I don't mean to intrude; I just have a few questions about relics." I waited silently, hoping I wasn't disturbing her. I was about to knock again when the double doors slowly opened with their heavy stone sound, revealing an old wolfess on the other side. Getting a good look at her, I concluded calling her old was an understatement; she looked ancient, like someone everyone for generations would call Great Granny as an affectionate term to refer to that nice old lady down the street who knew how to help everyone with their problems. The door looked and sounded heavy; I wondered how she even managed to open them with her frail-looking arms. She smiled pleasantly at me, her violet eyes sparkling at me and I felt myself filled with a fuzzy warmth that made me smile back. Yep, definitely the Great Granny type.

"Oh my, what a handsome young fox! Please, do come in and have a seat. I was just about to poor myself some grape juice. Perhaps you'd like some as well?" She stepped aside and I accepted her offer to enter the place, taking a good look around as I did. It wasn't too furnished, but there were decorations, sculptures and all assortments of items decorating the place. Any museum owner would have a field day here.

"Thank you very much. I'm afraid I can't stay too long. I just have a few questions I hope you have answered for and then there's a crisis I have to go deal with. Please, forgive my rudeness, Miss…?"

"You can just call me Granny Claire, it's become my nickname over my many years and I cherish it." she said with a chuckle. Wow, did I call it or what? She moved into what I assumed was the main living area, taking a seat on a woven chair and I did the same. "So, you have questions for Granny, do you? Well, ask away, Mr. McCloud."

"Well, you see, I wondered if- Wait, hold on, how did you-" I started, but a quiet laugh from her stopped me.

"I'm not so far out of the way of civilization as to not know who the leader of Star Fox is, Mr. McCloud. I do journey to the city often enough." she said with a smile. Well, I made a grand first impression, didn't I?

"S-sorry.. Anyway, I wanted to ask you about relics. I heard that over a decade ago, you gave a young wolf a mask that housed special power." I started, figuring I'd take it steady and smooth my way into it.

"Yes, I did. A very dashing young thing by the name of Lycus Kane. Such an ambition young man, burdened by life, but so very determined to not let it control him in the slightest. I haven't seen that young man in years… but to my surprise, he showed up a few days ago while I was away. When I came back, I felt something terrible, as if there was an evil in the area. I watched from afar as he emerged with the Okamitetsuken, a blade that is the brother to the mask I gave him all those years ago. Together, the two grant a far grander power than when they are separate. I imagined a young man like him didn't need all that burdening him, so I didn't offer it to him; just the mask. When I saw him a few days ago emerge from my sanctum with it, he looked like the young man I remember, but there was such a dark aura polluting everything about him, especially his eyes. I remember one was always covered and the other was a beautiful amethyst, but all I saw was blood red when he left. Is that nice young man in trouble?" As she spoke about how Wolf broke into her home and stole the brother to his mask, she seemed to slowly get more and more upset. She must have grown quite found of Wolf back when he was Lycus Kane. I decided not to go into too much detail as to not upset her further.

"Well… Something has happened to him and I'm going to do everything in my power to save him from whatever darkness has hold over his heart. He means the world to me and I won't lose him. Thank you for answering my question, Granny Claire, but I have to hurry. When this is all over, I'll drag him back so you can slap his wrists and I can get some of that grape juice." I said with a smile. She lit up at that, laughing along with me. I got up and before I made it to the door, she stopped me.

"Wait, I think I have something that would be of tremendous help to you, Mr. McCloud." She got up and moved over to a door, vanishing inside it a moment later. It was a minute or two later that she came back carrying a small statue. She came over to me and handed it to me, closing her hands over mine as I took it. "You say that nice young man has been taken by darkness and what I felt when I saw him, all the dark, evil energy, the best way to save him is to use the purist light. He will certainly help you. He's a very kind and loving deity who tries hard not to let the innocent suffer under his watch. He doesn't govern much over in this galaxy, but if you pray with a pure intention, he'll hear you." she explained, gesturing down to the statue. I wasn't quite sure I understood, but I nodded and looked it over. It was a wolf with a big frame, an angelic outfit adorning him. A pair of 6 huge wings framed him, a head of wild hair with a long ponytail and a single long braid on the right side of his face atop his head. Was she trying to tell me this was a statue of a god? As I pondered it, she pushed me out the door, giving me a pat on the back.

"Hurry, hurry! He needs help and only his loved ones can help him through this!"

"All right, I'll be on my way. Thank you so much for your help, it means a lot to me and I'm sure it'll mean a lot to Lycus too. Take care!" I waved to her as I took off as fast I could back to my arwing. I activated my commlink and called up Falco as I hopped in, firing it up and lifting off.

"What's up, Fox? You finally done doing whatever it is you had to do?" Falco said, his hologram appearing on my commlink.

"Yeah, all done. Get everyone together and meet me at the military's base on the battlefield. General Pepper will brief us and then I'll brief you all as well with what I know. Makes sure you bring it hard, buddy. We might not survive this one, you know how badass Wolf is. He's worse now." I said, glancing down at him as I flew toward the battlefield. He blinked at me and rubbed his beak, probably pondering how many of his big guns he should bring.

"All right, we'll be there soon, buddy. Hope you don't mind if I outgun you this time around!" he said, taunting me.

"Whatever, Falco. Compensate all you want, tough guy!" I retorted, grinning as his face messed up in disbelief. He was going to yell something at me, but I hung up on him. No time for games.

After a few moments, I was passing over the battlefield and suddenly I missed space battles. At least up there, you never saw the carnage. Ships that were gunned down usually exploded, leaving nothing behind, but that's not how it worked down on the ground and what I saw was just a blood bath. It was like someone painted the land with blood. Mutilated bodies were everywhere, brave soldiers who probably didn't even know what hit them. In the distance, I saw the base of the military, so at least they were still alive, but out here on the battlefield, no one was alive.

Except him, staring up at me with those glowing red eyes.


	3. Respite

**_Shattered Utopia_ - Chapter 3~**

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**Author's Note: **Yay, update time! Don't forget! - **Links to the chapter artwork are in my profile! **Also don't forget to go over and read Madame Bellatrix's _The Breaking Game_ and its newly spawned prequel, _Shadowplay_!

R&R please, simply because I suck at writing! ~3

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Respite.

It was slowly welling up inside me as I made my way across the battlefield, past the massacre, to the temporary fortified base on the far side where General Pepper was waiting for me. I don't know why, but the closer I got to the base, the more at ease I felt, like I was moving somewhere safe, despite knowing this small base would pretty much be nothing short of an eggshell under Wolf's foot if he attacked it. Really, it was likely he was just fucking with them, trying to make them go insane by making it known he's a god compared them and then just let them run around wondering when and if he'll suddenly appear to finish them off. Seriously, the odds of this situation were just ridiculous, pretty much just suicide for whoever went out there. But if there was ever anyone who would be more than willing to go out and fight, put there life on hold to try to save Wolf no matter how long it takes, it'd be me.

After all, he did the same thing for me all those years ago. Of all the people I've met in my lifetime, only two are truly saints; Wolf O'Donnell, the badass mercenary leader hardass who people can seldom guess has a heart of gold, obtaining Sargasso for no other reason than to make a sanctuary for the outcasts, and Leon Powalski, the original saint who also put his life on hold for a noble cause; taking in and caring for a teenage, budding saint Wolf. When it all comes down to it, if it weren't for those two, Lylat would be nothing but Andross' playground. I paled in comparison to both of them. They were the real heroes.

My thoughts were interrupted by the radio tower of the base giving me clearance to land. I responded a roger and moved to hover a landing pad and set my arwing down, opening the canopy and starting to hop out, but stopped as I remembered the statue that Granny Claire has given me, resting on my dashboard. I turned back and grabbed it, putting it into one of the cargo pockets of my pant legs. I made my way into the base and was greeted by several soldiers running around, one of them escorting me to Pepper. While we walked, I took a look around at the people stationed here, particularly the soldiers who would actually have to leave and go out into combat. It was obvious they were scared. All of their comrades who had been sent out in the first few waves to engage Wolf were mercilessly mowed down under Wolf's fury, none making it back alive. Their fear was thoroughly justified and I was suddenly happy that I could be down here with them instead of floating around space somewhere. I didn't hold myself in high regard, but all of them saw me as a hero, as loosely as I could personally use the term to describe myself, so perhaps my presence amongst them and being out in the field with them would help them find their resolve and raise morale.

"Ah, Fox! I'm glad you could make it. I was just talking with Director Lindman here. He's here representing the rest of the Board." Pepper said, and I couldn't help but pick up in the hint of annoyance in his voice during that last part. "He's insisting they proceed with dropping the Package, but I'm trying to convince him it's too early and that Star Fox is mobilizing to attempt to resolve the issue." Yep, definitely a lot of annoyance. Mr. Lindman adjusted his glasses and approached me, offering his hand to shake, which I took half-heartedly.

"Mr. McCloud, I'll get right to the point. From what I've seen, Star Fox stands no chance against this threat. A few ragtag mercenaries and two social delinquents against a force that can wipe out over 100 men just like that? I hardly see the logic of this move. It's simply suicide and I have to wonder what kind of leader willingly squanders lives when presenting with an alternative method that would _save_ lives." he said in a snide, all-knowing tone that made it sound like he regarded himself above most people.

"You shouldn't question my leadership without knowing me, Lindman. I am squandering no lives here. Star Fox and the remains of Star Wolf will be going out into the field alone once they arrive and we are all briefed. No one knows how Wolf works better than we do. I am technically not the leader of anything anymore, as Star Fox has unofficially disbanded, leaving us simply called that for peace of mind in the people and that's all we could ask for. My 'team' isn't doing this because I ordered them to as their captain. They're doing it because I _asked_ them to as their friend and also because Wolf is their friend as well. Hell, I really wouldn't have even had to ask; they would have been at my side before I knew it. As for the remaining members of Star Wolf, Panther Caruso and Leon Powalski, their leader is in need and they'll be damned if they aren't gonna run out there first chance they get. They're far more suited for dealing with Wolf than even I am. Their loyalty to their leader I dare say is probably on another level of fierce far above that of my own team. It's because while Star Fox was spoiled as heroes for the longest time, Star Wolf had no such luxury, having to rely on each other for everything, had to be perfectly in sync or else everything would come crashing down for them and there would be no government to help them out. They had to be more than Star Fox, the perfect team. They won't let you just kill Wolf without attempting to help him first. _I_ won't let you just kill Wolf without attempting to help him first. He's my entire world, the biggest part of me that you, or anyone else, are never gonna ever take away from me." It took me a few seconds to realize I had been steadily raising my voice and starting to spit venom. I also found myself in my commander stance, my legs spread grounding me to the spot with my hands clasped behind me, something I only did when I had to pull rank or when I was pissed and had to drive home a point. Less than five minutes with this guy got me this wound up; I could definitely sympathize with Pepper now. He had to deal with these idiots almost daily. He nervously adjusted his glasses and idly fixed his suit, obviously looking for the courage to dare respond to me after that. It was almost laughable; if he thought I was intimidating right now, he'd be in a corner shitting himself if it were Wolf standing here.

"Mr. McCloud, I don't care about your personal relationship with O'Donnell, nor do I care about how he and his team of cons managed to keep themselves alive while terrorizing the system. The fact of the matter is, he's spent the last few days doing nothing but slaughtering our men, so as far as I'm concerned, that monster is nothing but the lowest scum that needs to be wiped from the face of the planet." he said coolly. This asshole was seriously provoking me.

"If Star Fox had not run around playing prissy little games with Star Wolf for all these years and actually captured them, all this could have been avoided, we would have simply but those criminals to death and been done wi-" I didn't let him finish; instead, I let his face meet my fist. He cried out and tumbled back against the wall, his glasses broken and his face swollen and bleeding. Good. I kneeled and grabbed him by the collar, drawing his sniveling face close.

"Let me make something clear. _No one_ disrespects Wolf O'Donnell in front of me. That man is nothing short of a hero, a real hero. If it weren't for him, you and all your fucking piece of trash colleagues would be history, or worse, under the control of Andross because Star Fox would have fallen apart and not been able to save your sorry asses. He selflessly devoted himself to fixing my fucked up mind after Venom thoroughly trashed it during the war. I've been here for Lylat because he was there for me, and by extension, all of Lylat as well. Wolf O'Donnell is _twice_ the man you could ever _hope_ to be. So why don't you just run back to your safe, cozy little exec office and let the men talk? You fuckin' pansy son of a bitch." I shoved him back against the wall and walked over to sit down in front of Pepper's desk as Lindman scrambled up as fast as he could and booked it out of there.

"Goddamn, Fox. Well, there goes my bonus this year." he said, looking at me from his large leather chair on the other side of the desk. Aw shit. I didn't think about that. Lindman might not be able to do shit to me since I'm not associated with the military or anything he has his sticky fingers in, but thinking about it now, he'd probably stab at Pepper for this as punishment.

"Damn… Sorry, sir." I said, rubbing the back of my head. I blinked when he suddenly laughed instead of chastising me like I figured he would.

"Don't be sorry, Fox. That was better than any damn bonus, that's for sure!" he said with another chuckle. Just then, Falco entered the room with Krystal in tow. As sad as I was to not see Peppy and Slippy amongst them, I knew there was a reason. _General_ Peppy was probably busier than even Pepper with all that was going on, particularly dealing with the Directors who honestly did nothing but run around in a panic like little kids and try to find whatever they can to hide behind in times of crisis and as for Slippy, he was on Aquas living peacefully with his new wife.

"Hey, was that Lindman that we just passed on the way in here? The fuck happened to him, his face like exploded." Falco asked, strolling over to take the seat next to me.

"He was disrespecting us, Star Wolf and trashing Wolf." I said plainly, feeling justified with my actions. I couldn't help but grin a little when I heard Krystal try to stifle a giggle. She knew more than anyone how awkward I could sometimes get depending on what people said or didn't say about Wolf.

"He certainly had that coming. It's almost ironic that Lindman is responsible for all the shortage of finances all over the damn place. He's always throwing money at the next big thing he thinks will make him the most money to invest in." Falco said.

"What kind of man would simply jump around at whatever happens to be shiniest and no doubt leave a mess behind him?" Krystal asked, taking the seat on the other side of me.

"A piece of shit like Lindman." Falco and I said in unison.

"All right, let's put Lindman aside for a moment, shall we? Now, the remains of Star Fox are here, but where are remains of Star Wolf?" Pepper asked, eyeing Falco and Krystal.

"They said they'd come as soon as they could. Apparently they were busy with something else. They said it shouldn't be too long." Falco answered. Pepper nodded and rubbed his chin.

"Very well. In the meantime, might I suggest you all gather some intel from the troops? Any information will help you and seeing Star Fox here might help bring up morale. These soldiers are in dire need of a beacon of hope."

We nodded and got up to go out walking around the base, talking to whoever we came across. Krystal was the most consoling out of all of us for obvious reasons. Her telepathy gave her a pretty big edge on really feeling what others were feeling. We split up eventually and spent about an hour listening to the men just talk. We didn't ask a lot of questions, we just let them try to calm themselves down and vent with words. I was glad to see a lot of them loosen up simply at the sight of us mingling with them. By the time we returned to Pepper's office, Leon and Panther were walking in ahead of us. As soon as we were all present, Pepper started the briefing right away. It was about ten minutes of intel and we all made note of pretty much everything. I was already aware of most the info from my talk with Pepper earlier that day when I was aboard the Great Fox. The gist of it was that Wolf would appear whenever he wanted to basically and manage to wipe out any opposition he was faced with. Pepper did, however, give out information that was new to me, such as a rundown of all the types of equipment and artillery that had previously been used. Naturally, all the soldiers had been equipment for long range combat with assault rifles, cannons, rocket launchers and tanks. He also told us that it seemed the less men on the field, the less aggressive Wolf was and the more he relied on hand-to-hand. Then it was perfect that only five of us were going to be out on the field. Perhaps Wolf himself would make it somewhat easier for us to deal with him. Once Pepper finished, I filled everyone in on everything I knew and what I had found out from Granny Claire, though I opted to not mention the statue and what she had told me about that. It seemed like something that would need a lot of explanation and I hardly understood much about it myself.

"All right, it sounds like favoring hand-to-hand is a key factor in attempting to get an advantage. We should have at least three of us up close doing the close to mid-range combat and the other two be support as long-range but be able and equip to suddenly get up close. It should mix it up nicely." Leon stated from his spot leaning against the wall in the corner.

"I agree. If what Pepper says is true and Wolf responds to range, at least two of us keeping our positions random should help, if only a little." Panther added with a nod.

"All right, so it's gonna be three up close and the last two at long range but getting in close at random. Who's gonna be where?" Falco asked.

"Fox, Krystal and I shall be up close. I figure the faster the three up close are, the better. You and Panther will be our range. Panther's sniper eye is a treasure. I'm sure you can impress me, bird." Leon answered as-a-matter-of-factly.

"How come Krystal is up close? I know she's good, but-" I started, but Leon cut me off.

"Her bionics has improved quite a bit. Not to mention she brought along her staff. Its abilities are similar to those Wolfus uses and with her improved bionics, I'm willing to wager she can probably keep Wolfus on his toes. Isn't that right, my dear?" Krystal smiled and patted the staff strapped to her leg.

"I could certainly try my best to at the least. I think now is the perfect reason to thank you again for the polearm lessons."

"Of course, my dear. One must utilize the full capabilities of their preferred weapon for maximum efficiency and I was happy to help out." Leon answered, finally looking up from his corner to look at her.

"You gave her polearm lessons?" Panther questioned, his face inquisitive.

"Yes, I did. I figured with all the nonsense that seems to happen to us, it'd be for the best since she prefers her staff. The combination of it and her bionics make a wondrous weapon." Panther hmmed for a moment, running a finger along his chin.

"Shouldn't you have recruited Wolf to help you out with that? I think we all know he can handle a pole far better than the rest of us." he said with a purr. We all quietly chuckled at the inside joke as Leon smacked Panther on the shoulder.

"Yes, yes, you still awestruck feline. Now, back to business." he said, shaking his head.

"The armory is still heavily stocked. You're free to take whatever you need from it. However, before you move out, I suggest resting up for at least a little while. Some of you look rather tired." Pepper said, looking over all of us. I thought about it a moment and figured it'd probably be best if we were at our max.

"Understood. All right, we'll all be up and assembled at the armory at 0500 hours." I said, nodding to them as I got up to make my way out.

Falco and I made our way to the barracks alone after Leon vanished and Panther charmed Krystal away to wherever. Being back in a bunk in the barracks reminded me of my cadet days back when I was an army brat. Eventually I found my thoughts on Wolf again and sighed. Why did this have to happen to him? He's been so fucked all his life and he had finally got some stability and peace of mind, only to have it thoroughly fucked _again_. And that wasn't even the worse part. If we managed to save Wolf, the real shit would come after. The Directors would have a fuckin' _field day_ with Wolf after all this. If they didn't push to have him put to death, they'd at least try their hardest to make sure he was locked up for life. Again. Fuck… just, fuck.

Before I knew it, my commlink alarm was vibrating, waking me from a slumber I don't remember falling into. Must have had my mind too busy plotting how to make a mass murder of a board of directors look like an accident… I threw myself out of bed, showered, got myself dressed and made my way to the mess hall. It was 4:50 when I got there, so I got something light and ate it as I jogged to the armory. When I got there, turns out I was the last one there. Very leaderly.

"All right, let's get this done." I said simply as I moved inside. Pepper wasn't lying when he said they were well stocked. I'd say they were overstocked personally. I already had my blaster, so I grabbed a belt of throwing knives, three combat knives, a pair of brass knuckles, some grenades and a trap field device. Krystal had her staff and she grabbed two blasters and a flash grenade as back-up. Leon had on his favorite trench coat, so I knew there were all assortment of concealed weaponry on his person, particularly his favorite assassin blades. Panther and Falco both grabbed an AX6 sniper rifle and then went for personal choice, Panther grabbing a DX540 heavy rifle, favoring it for its gatling power, a 680-Series rocket launcher and strapped two belts of incendiary throwing knives about his waist while Falco grabbed two DR-89 combat rifles and a FFLG-400 shotgun. Seemed Panther would be our heavy while Falco would be our medium. I looked us all over when we were done and nodded.

"Goddamn, any enemy would shit themselves if they saw us comin' out packin' all this heat." I said with a chuckle. "All that looks pretty damn heavy, Panther. You a bodybuilder in another life?" He had the sniper and heavy rifles strapped on his back and the rocket launcher strapped behind him about his waist. He glanced at me and chuckled with his usual purr.

"I am indeed much more physically capable than I may appear, but that's not the secret." He gestured to objects affixed to the weaponry and I whistled. Ahh, LGX Float Systems, nice. That shit was rare, but having them was a wish come true for heavy artillery users. The System was a complex mechanic that Space Dynamics created for the military that made heavy weaponry much lighter. With it, you could do what Panther was doing; carry around multiple types of heavy artillery. I was about to say something else when we all suddenly heard the base alarm go off and a sudden rush of people run by. We made our way out of the base and found Pepper there with a few colonels.

"Wolf has been spotted; he's emerged from the prison, but hasn't made a move yet. It seems like he's waiting for us as usual." Pepper said, turning to face us. I nodded and we started moving out to the battlefield. It was finally time to get this done and I found myself experiencing a feeling I hadn't felt in years; that building tightness in my chest, the adrenaline pumping the way only one person in the universe could cause.

The thrill of facing Wolf in battle with our lives on the line.


	4. Resolve

**Author's Note: **Hello, lovelies. Finally an update! It's becoming more and more apparent I'm terrible at writing, but will I stop? I probably should! But I'm not gonna! This is the type of Starfox fanfiction Ive always wanted to see; Starfox meets DBZ meets Japanese folklore. The kitsune of Inari was what inspired Fox's creation and his theme of flying through rings and arches, like how Inari's kitsune would fly through torii gates.

**Chapter pic for this is in my profile! =3**

**R&R please, kthx!**

* * *

Resolve.

It's all we had and all we needed to march out onto that bloody battlefield and stand atop that hill, bodies strewn about, as we looked down over the area, at Wolf, who stood motionless waiting for us to make our move as the first hint of morning light started appearing in the horizon, behind the skyline of Corneria in the far distance. After a moment of looking over the horizon, I slipped my brass knuckles on and drew two of my combat knives, the others taking that as the signal, moving ahead of me.

Time to finally repay my debt.

I grabbed Krystal's arm and stopped her, pulling her back behind me.

"Hold on. Let Leon and I go in first, get a feel for him. I'd like you to stay back and observe for a minute how he engages us and then decide on how to approach it. You're pretty much our trump card, so we need to keep you up and fighting as long as we can. Do you think you'd be able to run support before you move in?" She looked back at me with a questioning look when I stopped her, looking like she was preparing to scold me. She must have thought I was going to ask her to stay out of it for her safety. No, I learned the hard way I shouldn't treat her that way a long time ago. When I finished, she looked relieved and nodded with a smile.

"Yes, Fox, I can do that. I'll stay near Panther since he'll probably have a better view of the battle while sniping and be able to give me any details he observes." she said, patting my shoulder. I nodded and we were off. We ran down the hill as a group and then split when we hit flat land. Panther branched off towards a bunch of small, high plateau-like structures, the perfect place for sniping, with Krystal right behind him. Falco slowed down some, getting distance between us, leaving Leon and I ahead to engage Wolf first. Leon drew his own knives from his coat and then went camo, vanishing from my sight right after I saw him start to fan out, to try to get in strikes from behind. Quick, surprise strikes from random angles would be a serious advantage, but I knew Leon was aware that simply being unseen wouldn't completely hide him. Wolf would likely still be able to smell and hear him, but if I managed to be relentless enough, it would keep Wolf's senses distracted just enough.

And so I closed in on Wolf more or less alone and when I was close enough, he finally moved, dashing straight at me, but I was the first to strike. I went in low, aiming for his side with the knife in my right and held the left reverse style to be ready to defend. I ducked lower as his sword swung at my head, almost talking my ears off in the process, but I used the angle to slash at his leg. His reflexes had the leg pulled back out of the way in the blink of an eye, then bringing his knee forward to crash into my face. I somersaulted backwards and had to dive to the side to avoid being impaled. As he was pulling his sword back, I saw his coat tear in several places, drops of blood hitting the ground. Leon appeared, his knives bloody, moving in to strike again as Wolf turned and engaged him. Admittedly, Leon was a much better knife fighter than I was. The two exchanged flurries of blows, blocking, deflecting, cutting each other, but neither one letting up. I moved in to join the fray, Leon executing a few quick blows that would have any normal enemy thoroughly dead already, countering the attacks from Wolf he could and using his tail to strike at Wolf's legs, staggering him often, which I took as my chance to step in, attacking low at his legs and hips. For a split second, we saw his claws glow and we knew to get back quick. Huge leaps backwards are all that saved us as he swiped, aura arching off of them and destroying the ground where we stood just a second ago. Before he could do anything else, rapid fire resounded in our ears. Dozens of laser bolts attacked Wolf as Falco unloaded both his combat rifles. Now, why he was using both, I didn't know, but what I did know was that it was stupid to waste both at the same time, but that was Falco for you. Always preferred flash over efficiency. Wolf took leaping evasive maneuvers, blocking and deflecting a lot of the bolts, so I took the opportunity to draw my blaster and take potshots, making quite a few effective hits, much to my surprise to be honest. I charged a shot and fired just as Leon threw a handful of knives, my shot getting Wolf's shoulder and most the knives taking spots in his arm and lower back. He twitched for a moment, knocked all the knives out of his flesh and then became a blur, causing my muscles to tense up. The first thing he did was close the distance between himself and Falco, his sword already arcing when he stopped in front of the bird. He brought one of the rifles up to block, the sword slicing clean through it and leaving a nasty gash on across the feathered arm. He wasted no time; he was a blur again as soon as the deed was done, this time right in front of me. I was in mid-fire when his sword cleaved my blaster the same way it did Falco's combat rifle, almost taking my fingers with it. I brought my knives up for defense and found Leon once again behind Wolf, a knife going for his neck. I winced hard when I saw it sink into the side of his neck. Leon instantly leaped back as Wolf turned to swing at him, grabbing the knife in his neck and tearing it out, tossing it to the ground. I was shocked to see that all the previous wounds we had given him had all completely healed, his black coat repaired as well as if they never happened. I saw a faint glow shining through the collar of his coat, assuming that that was the healing power at work, but I couldn't see due to his collar being high enough to hide his neck and lower face. He leaped at Leon, but didn't forget about Falco and I. His tail swept in our direction and we both suddenly found ourselves flying through the air as raw energy slammed into us. We hit the ground hard enough to have the wind knocked out of us, leaving us struggling to get up as Leon faced down Wolf alone. Wolf's attacks were much more precise, much quicker than before. Perhaps the wound to the neck made him none too happy. It was apparent Leon was struggling now, suffering cuts and gashes all over. Eventually Wolf dominated him completely, his sword cutting through the knives entirely, followed by his fist digging itself into Leon's stomach. He almost doubled over as he choked, gasping for breath, as Wolf swung to stab his sword into the gasping chameleon's back. Just as the blade was about to impale him, a blue aura suddenly surrounded Leon's entire form, Wolf's blade blocked by it. He went to bring his blade down again harder, but he was nearly knocked off his feet as a shot tore through his side. Leon took the opening, reaching into his coat and burying several butcher knives into Wolf's chest before swiftly pulling out a silenced pistol and shooting him right between the eyes, forcing his head to snap back, and finally drew a larger carving knife and slashed Wolf's exposed throat. He stood there motionless after the assault, looking like he had stopped functioning on the spot. I had to look away when I saw torrents of blood start to run down his throat.

* * *

A fair distance away on a small plateau, Panther stood rooted, reloading his sniper rifle as Krystal stood near him, her staff glowing bright as she held it up, the source of the aura that shielded Leon. She also took the opportunity to attempt to heal some of Leon's more serious cuts, but not only was it difficult from afar, he had so many that it would likely be a slow process.

"Panther, status please." she said, concentrating hard on her work. The ebony feline finished reloading and glanced through the scope, taking in the scene out on the field a moment before responding.

"You were successful in safeguarding Leon. He used the chance to seriously mess Wolf up. From the looks of it, he's got knives in his chest, a pistol shot to the head and a slashed throat. Seems Leon is done going easy. Also, it seems Fox and Falco have recovered."

"Leon did all that? Oh Leon, we were supposed to try to keep Wolf alive… Fox is probably heart-broken right now…" She sighed and lowered her staff, intending to move down to the three to try to heal them as much as she could up close for maximum effect.

"Yes, a real tragedy this tale has been… Come, let us- wait, whoa. Whoa!" The feline stopped mid-sentence, quickly aiming and firing off three shots before reloading and repeating the process, startling Krystal.

"What's it is? What's going on?" she asked hurriedly, raising her staff once more.

"Damn it… Apparently Wolf is fucking immortal now because he seems to be moving about as if nothing happened and just messed Leon up pretty bad. He's going for Fox and Falco now." he said, taking more shots. Krystal immediately went back to her concentration, her staff aglow as she focused on defending the remaining two in the fray.

* * *

I scrambled to my feet as Wolf ran at Falco who was currently emptying his second combat rifle, though this didn't slow Wolf down at all, weaving through and blocking all the laser bolt fire. I ran to Leon, who Wolf had decimated just seconds ago before any of us knew that he was still very much alive. It seemed he was somehow immortal or was just able to heal so fast nothing could incapacitate him. I checked Leon's pulse and cursed at the result; he was alive, but just barely and I suspected he was slipping away considering the size of the pool of blood he was lying in. I noticed that blue aura return around his body and then around my own as well, feeling its healing power flow over me, which meant it was flowing over Leon too.

"Hang in there, Leon. We're gonna try to get this done as quickly as possible. Though that's easier said than done…" I got up and ran towards Falco who Wolf was currently attacking. The bird had discarded his rifle and had his shotgun, blasting Wolf every chance he got as he attempted to evade Wolf's sword strikes. The aura was around him as well, blocking wolf's sword when the bird couldn't get out of the way, allowing him ample time to keep firing. The only problem was that Wolf was taking the shots like candy, hardly even slowing him down. After more failed attempts to cut through that shield, Wolf held his blade high, his own aura erupting off of it. With a heavy swing, it crashed into that aura shield, throwing electricity everywhere before it broke through, shattering that shield like glass, and slashing through Falco's lower torso. He dropped the shotgun as he clutched his wound, hitting the ground as blood leaked from his beak. As Wolf turned, I was already in air ready to strike, swinging forward with cut at his face. Next thing I knew, the wind was forced out of my lungs again and I was flying at top speed several hundred feet backwards until I crashed into a wrecked tank. I know I heard bones break, felt it too, but I was suddenly pretty damn numb as I twitched and slipped in and out of consciousness.

* * *

"Fox!" Krystal exclaimed as she witnessed Wolf send him flying and then dash towards her and Panther's position.

"Shit! My sweet, stay behind me!" Panther called as he tossed his rifle aside and lifted his rocket launcher to his shoulder, pulling the trigger as soon as it locked onto Wolf. The missile flew forward towards the incoming wolf, but only made it half way before Wolf simply flung a shockwave slash at it, the explosion rocking the plateau. From the smoke, Wolf leaped high into the air towards the top of the plateau where his next targets awaited. Panther tossed the launcher aside and readied the last of his artillery, the heavy rifle. It whirled to life and then hundreds of laser bolts were being fired at Wolf as he flew over the top, Panther following his path through the air and finally firing at him as he landed. Wolf moved slowly forward at first, seeming to not care at all as hundreds of laser bolts tore through him, suddenly dashing when he heard the loud click of the heavy rifle's battery clip indicating its emptiness. Panther cursed, throwing it aside as he moved in front of Krystal, tearing both belts of incendiary knives from his waist as Wolf closed in. He wrapped Krystal in one arm and took a flying leap towards another plateau nearby, simultaneously throwing the belts at Wolf's feet, the impact causing them all to detonate, destroying a good chunk of the plateau. The feline reached out and barely caught the ledge of that second plateau, Krystal quickly pulling herself up and then helping Panther up. When they stood, Wolf was standing there waiting. Panther growled and stood in front of Krystal again, producing a rose from his jacket.

"Panther! Really, this is no time for-" Before the vixen could finish scolding the feline, he had suddenly flipped it around and flung it at top speed, its stem puncturing right through Wolf's left eye. As he staggered back and proceeded to remove the weapon from his eye, Panther produced several more and let them all fly, most of them striking Wolf in the torso. He produced two more, one larger than the rest, keeping that one for himself and passing the smaller one back to Krystal. She ran her fingers along the stem, finding it firm, metallic and very sharp at the end like a needle.

"My, I have to admit this is certainly an effective and unexpected personal touch, but so very you, Panther." Krystal said with a grin.

"That is not all I have up my sleeve, my sweet." Just as he finished his words, Wolf was streaking towards them in a blur of speed, sword raised to kill. Panther's eyes narrowed and with a strong, swift arc of his arm, Wolf found out the hard way that the rose Panther held was actually a rose _whip_. The center of the rose extended with the speed of a viper as Panther swung, tearing across Wolf's face and sending him stumbling backwards before retracting back to the rose as quickly as it had appeared.

"A deceptive rose that's actually a whip? Where in Lylat did you get _that_, Panther?" Krystal asked, eyeing the rose with fascination. Panther merely smiled at her and kissed the rose as he lightly ran fingers along its pedals.

"Don't you know? The Caruso family line has quite a few inventors and I like to dabble in a little inventing myself. Using some schematics from my grandfather, nanofibers and nanomachines programmed to respond to the placement of my fingers on the stem, I managed to design this prototype. I find myself quite satisfied with it, but it needs much more field testing before I finalize it of course." He turned his attention back to a recovered Wolf, raising the rose high before going to work unleashing a flurry of attacks upon Wolf, not letting up even when blood began to fly everywhere. He nodded back at Krystal who raised her staff, fire dancing along it as she aimed it and then fired off a large ball of fire. Just as Panther sent Wolf airborne with an attack to the face, the blaze ball slammed into the lupine, engulfing him in a raging inferno, followed by a huge explosion, sending him flying over the edge of the plateau and crashing into the ground below. The vixen charged the bottom end of her staff with red energy before leaping off the edge, soaring down to the ground with the staff held above her head, slamming it down right as she met the ground. That red energy pulsed hard through the ground, causing a massive quake and a large area of devastation in its wake, getting Wolf airborne again. Acting quickly, she slammed her staff into the lupine's chest, the resulting shockwave blowing her back some and sending Wolf tumbling through the air several yards before crashing into the ground, forming a crater as he slid to a stop.

"Well, well! My dear, such power hidden behind all that beauty! How your wonders never cease!" Panther exclaimed, squatting and peeking over the edge of the plateau. He glanced over in Wolf's direction to see him standing once again, his hand raised above his head. He gave Wolf a questioning look; what in the world was he doing now? Just then, his ear twitched and he looked above himself and went wide-eyed when he beheld a massive sphere of raw destruction rapidly descending on the area.

"Krystal!" He wasted no time descending the plateau, tackling Krystal to the ground and covering as much of her as he could as he held her tight for dear life just as the sphere touched down. The explosion was loud and rocked the area heavily, a massive dome of ascending destruction engulfing several dozen meters. It lasted only a moment before it dissipated, revealing the ruined land left behind and the two figures in the center. Krystal opened her eyes, looking around her and finding nothing but destruction and Panther twitching heavily atop her.

"Panther? Panther, answer me. Panther!" The feline slowly raised his head and looked at her through blurry vision, blood running down his jaw as he struggled to smile at her. He tried to move, but found he couldn't; several chunks of his body had been incinerated and the rest burned and mangled. A trembling hand offered the vixen beneath him a damaged rose before his golden eyes drooped shut and his head hit the earth. Before she could do anything, a blade punctured her chest, making her gasp and look up from the dying feline on top of her. Wolf was slowly walking by, holding his sword there as he walked by before dragging it out, cutting her neck and face as he did so. He focused all his attention on a certain Fox who was limping towards him in the distance, leaving the vixen and feline to die together.

* * *

It was difficult to stand, but I was forcing myself to do so anyway, limping my way back to the battle. From what I could see, Falco, Leon, Panther and Krystal were all either dead or dying, but I couldn't tell without being up close to check for a pulse. Dead or alive, they were sure as hell down for the count and I was now alone. I could have just called Pepper and had him send backup, but I wasn't about to let Wolf wipe out more of the military, not while I could still fight. I saw Wolf approaching me and checked to see what weaponry I had left and cursed when I found just a single combat knife remaining. I drew it and tossed it between my hands, trying to quickly think of a plan. First things first, I had to get that sword out of Wolf's hand and then maybe I'd be able to fight him more effectively and won't wind up cut in half. Perhaps it was time to break out my more technical abilities.

Just as I finished my thoughts, Wolf was before me, moving to slash at me. I gripped my knife tightly and moved my ass. I spent several seconds trying to not let Wolf cut my insides out as I focused my inner strength, looking for an opening. A vertical slash provided me just what I needed; I slammed my knife into his sword, deflecting it hard enough to stagger Wolf for a second, but also chipping a good chunk of my knife off and causing a crack to run down it. Not focusing on that, I reacted immediately during my narrow window of opportunity; Flames engulfed me, giving me an adrenaline rush as I threw myself forward, slamming into Wolf with my Fire Fox. We travelled several feet before I landed, the impact of sending Wolf sprawling to the ground. The window was still there, so I had one more chance and I took it. I reared back and flew forward suddenly, just a streak of motion for a second, ending up a short distance on the other side of Wolf. I looked down at my knife to find the blade had broken off, but it was worth it when I looked up and saw Wolf's sword flying through the air a long ways out of reach. I sighed with relief at my small victory; at the sacrifice of my last weapon, it seemed my Fox Flash was effective enough to disarm the lupine, having used my knife to attack during. I panted as I pushed myself up off the ground. Man, I missed the rush of those abilities, but on top of having not used them in a few years, being beat up and already exhausted made using them more tiring than I would have liked. I turned to find Wolf standing, glaring at me as he flexed his claws. I also noticed his hand was bleeding, the wound remaining even after a few seconds. As I thought, it _was _the sword all along and without it, he couldn't heal himself, which I hoped also meant he couldn't use any of the abilities that weren't natural to Wolf.

"All right, Wolf. No more weapons, no more powers, just you and me duking it out with only our natural skills like all those years ago. I'm gonna save you, Wolfus, even if I have to break your fuckin' face to do it!" With my declaration, I pushed all the pain in my body aside and charged. I was thrilled to find it easier to land blows on Wolf now, the lupine seeming powerless in the face of my fury. Just as I was about to make good on my talk of breaking his face, his hand quickly caught my fist, squeezing it hard enough that I heard shit starting to crack. I tried punching with my other fist, only to have my wrist caught in the grip of his other hand, which proceeded to nearly snap my damn wrist in two. I was about to give him a headbutt, but then his jaws lunged forward when my head was reared back, making me go wide-eyed and gasp sharply. I could gasp desperately for air as the entirely of his jawline of teeth sank into my neck, filling my maw with my own blood. When he pulled away from my neck and released my hands, I was surprised he didn't tear it out to finish me off, but I didn't think I needed the extra pain. I was really dizzy, struggling to focus on Wolf as I stumbled around trying to keep my balance. I noticed that his right arm was glowing with a purple aura as I forced my mind to concentrate. Was there _still_ shit he could do that I didn't know about? I tried to stand straight despite my wound pouring blood and finding it hard to take breaths, determined to keep fighting, even though I knew I was screwed at this point. I didn't care though, I wanted my Wolf back more than anything else in the entire galaxy and I had to keep moving forward or else I never would. I stumbled forward and used it as momentum to move faster, raising my fist to attack again. I swung at the lupine, but he simply moved back some, my fist passing harmlessly by. I was going to swing again when his left hand snapped up to grip my neck, causing me to grit my teeth as pain rattled crashed through my nervous system. I gripped his wrist with both hands, trying to force his away as he blocked my airway. I raised my fist for a desperate punch, but suddenly I felt heavy pressure in my gut and I jolted heavily. My eyes were wider than before and I couldn't move in the slightest. I couldn't see what he had done, but I didn't need to. I could _feel_ what he had done.

The claws of his right hand flexed, elongated and glowing like the rest of the limb, his forearm lodged in my abdomen, his hand clear through my back.

My brain couldn't process anything for what seemed like forever and I remain paralyzed for who knows how long, it could have been a moment or years for all I knew. When I finally rediscovered how to move, I found myself leaning forward, my trembling hands gripping familiar shoulders. Wolf stared back at me with those red eyes, emotionless, uncaring that he had just guaranteed my death. But I didn't care. This was still my Wolfus, mind corrupted by a monster we couldn't see. My vision was blurry and I find myself silently crying as I leaned towards that gruff face, a shaky hand tugging his high collar down to reveal the rest of his face, those lips I loved kissing. I was mere inches away from them, my own trembling as blood covered them. Just as I was about to kiss those lips, I cough, blood pouring from my mouth. I vision began to fade and my head fell, landing on his chest. The warm feeling I always had when I would do this all those other times swept over me, numbing me to anything else. I didn't even register his arm finally leaving my gut as he turned away, letting me fall to the ground and soak in my own blood. I laid there for several moments, my eyes barely able to make out Wolf moving towards his sword. With the last of my strength, I managed to reach into the pocket of my pant leg and pull out that statue Granny Claire gave me. She said it would help, said that _he_ would help. I didn't know who _he_ was, but with my last chance, I'd try to make all the difference I could. I closed my eyes, gripping the statue tightly as I silently prayed, more and more tears streaming from my eyes.

'Please… Whoever you are, I'm begging you… Save my Wolfus…please…' I begged until I couldn't process thought anymore, darkness overtaking my senses.

* * *

Light-years away, in the Milky Way galaxy on a small blue planet, a wolf god was mingling with his mortal relatives at a small manor up in a mountain range that surrounded a big city. His alert ears twitched, drawing his attention away from his family and to the skies, towards a faint voice from a far-off galaxy. Whoever it may have been, they were praying with all their heart and soul and from what he could tell, they were dying, using their last breaths to beg him to save someone… This prayer would not go unanswered. In a flurry of beautiful, angelic feathers, the wolf god vanished.

* * *

I don't know how long I saw nothing but darkness, but suddenly a faint light stirred me. I slowly opened my eyes and the first thing I registered was that I somehow wasn't dead despite being certain death had taken me. I shakily pushed myself up onto my hands and knees, finding I was no longer in any pain. I looked myself over and found no blood, no wounds and my clothes were intact. I then noticed grass under me, lush and swaying in the gentle morning breeze. I got to me feet and looked around, finding that the once barren and ruined landscape had been transformed into a beautiful grassland, a soft orange playing across it as Solar began its rise in the horizon past the skyline of Corneria. My eyes blinked as a brighter light steadily illuminated the area around me, looking up to find a white wolf probably well over double my height and very thickly framed with musculature, most of it hidden in white silk robes that had a blueish white glow. He had silver hair, a long braid on one side of his head and a long ponytail flowing behind him. His eyes were gray and even though they were looking at me, I only a darkened gray where pupils should be, making me assume he must be blind. His most notable feature was the huge angelic wings behind him, feathers from them floating about.

"Good morning, Fox McCloud." he greeted with a smile. His voice was soft, warm and inviting. I'd never heard a voice like it before in my life.

"H-hello..." I stammered, still trying to process what was floating there in front of me. So was this a god? He looked exactly like the statue that was on the ground at my feet. I bent down to pick it up, looking it over and comparing. This was definitely the same wolf the statue depicted, and Granny Claire said he could help, so now was my chance.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, it's just… I'm not used to seeing gods is all. Did you… Did you heal me?"

"Yes, I did. You were being taken by death when I heard your voice speaking to me. You acted just in time. Any later and I would not have been able to save you or your friends from death. I'm sure they all would be very grateful." he said. I turned around and sure enough, Falco, Leon, Panther and Krystal were all getting to their feet. I turned back to the god before me, my face showing my happiness and gratitude.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it. But that's not my only problem… Can you help me get my boyfriend back? Something's happened to him and I don't know what it is. It's something supernatural and I haven't the slightest clue how to break him free of whatever it is. Please." He turned his head, his blind eyes glancing behind him. A short distance away, Wolf stood motionless, glaring at the god. I actually hadn't noticed him there until then and I started tensing up, anticipating another round.

"Fear not. He dare not come any closer. It would appear Wolf O'Donnell has been possessed by a shayde, a being a darkness born in pitch blackness where collections utmost despair have gathered. Mortal weapons cannot harm a shayde, they can only damage the body it possesses. If the body is killed, the shayde can then absorb it and grow in power." the god explained, turning back to face me. I stood there utterly stunned, the information almost frying my brain. I clutched my chest, struggling to breathe as I started sweating. I had fucked up _so_ bad, I had almost single-handedly handed my boyfriend, the man who was my entire world, over to some goddamn dark spirit on a silver platter. If it hadn't have been for that sword giving him regenerative power, we all would have doomed Wolf to oblivion. We had thought we would need everything we could get our hands on to just subdue Wolf as Pepper's reports stated Wolf seemed invincible, and that's what we were going for, just trying to wear him down. I hadn't even the faintest idea that his sword was all that was keeping him alive and that without it, our weapons would kill him if we got in a good hit. We had all figured a nuke would be the only way to end it if it came down to that, but my current panic attack was proof that I wouldn't have been able to allow them to actually do it unless they restrained me to stop my from committing homicide to stop them… My thoughts were interrupted by a large, strong hand on my back that somehow instantly soothed me enough so I could breathe again and stop sweating.

"Calm yourself, Fox, do not dwell on it any longer. Wolf is still alive and you can still save him. I cannot do it for you, but I can aid you in your effort. In my culture, there is a deity called Inari who uses kitsune as his messengers. They're intelligent, courageous, swift, cunning and possess the ability of flight, something I see is very important to your life and something you're very skilled at doing. True, they don't use machines like you do, but nuance. I suspect you're actually already at least somewhat familiar with what a kitsune is, Kitsune no Hoshi."

I blinked as he said that name; it was my username for the chat lounge I would visit to find people or get underground information. Was he actually literally able to see my life?

"The people who worship Inari have made many types of kitsune masks for use at festivals, noh plays, the like. Looking at you and seeing your life, you remind me of a kitsune, so I shall give you such a mask and it shall grant you the gifts of Inari. You shall find yourself near on par with the one you call the Silver-Tailed Executioner which I believe shall prove quite useful." he said as light gathered in his hand, a white mask with red markings appearing. It didn't look like it had any special properties to it, it was just a simple mask, not anymore near as ornate as Wolf's. However, I wasn't sure how comfortable I was with question a god so I only nodded and took it when he offered it to me. I flipped it over and saw even less on the inside, just white. I also noticed that the mask looked like it was designed for someone who didn't have a muzzle…

"Um… There's no way this will fit over my face…" I said.

"Side of your head. It doesn't matter which side, feel free to switch sides as you see fit." he said with a chuckle, taking it from me and hovering it where it was apparently supposed to go.

"Oh." was all I could say. I don't know why I suddenly felt dumb, but I did as I took it back. He chuckled again and spoke.

"Also, I shall give you Kogitsune-Maru, a sword Inari himself helped the blacksmith Munechika forge many centuries ago in the Milky Way galaxy on Earth in its calendar 10th century. The blade takes on the shape of the wielder's spirit and their resolve. If these are weak, so to shall be the blade. Also, be warned. Once you achieve your goal, I'm afraid I'll have to take back the great power they possess, leaving them both at minimal power, but that doesn't mean they won't be forces to be reckoned with. You may keep them as a gift from me." He smiled and handed me a ball of light. I cupped my hands as it floated there a moment before it glowed brighter and started forming a shape. Before I knew it, I was holding a longsword in my hands. Looking it over, I found myself more than impressed. It was double-edged and had some elegant curves to it. It had a broad middle section between both edges that had a dark scarlet gradient with midnight purple. The handle was a lighter scarlet and had long hanging torii rope tassels attached. So this was the shape of my spirit, huh? I had to admit, my spirit was pretty badass. I gave it a few test swings and found it to feel light and natural in my grip. Perfect. I turned my attention back to the mask and brought it near where I was going to place it on my head. As it was, it would block one of my eyes and leave me half-blind. I guess it was time to find out how Wolf felt wearing his eye patch.

I fit it to the right side of my face and then stood in awe as a warm power overtook me.


	5. Power

**Author's Note: **This is getting both fun and complicated to keep writing! So yeah, you've likely noticed how... wild this fanfic is getting, but I have a good reason! Besides the fact that I simply wanted to write it this way. This fic is basically me getting years of built up want and inspiration out of my system. I love stuff like this and Ive wanted to write a fic like this for years on end but never had the motivation. Its basically a mash-up of all the genres of anime I loved growing up and today. So yeah, StarFox meets DBZ meets the Magical Girl genre meets my own personal fiction! I promise when its out of my system, I'll write more down-to-earth fics, so please just bare with me for now X3; OR WILL I!?  
I know plenty of you are probably familiar with DBZ, but for those of you who don't know what the Magical Girl genre of anime is, its basically young ladies or young girls and the occasional gentleman who are granted a magical item, a wand, scepter, perfume, locket, powder puff, etc, that lets them transform into warriors with special powers, like Sailor Moon for example. In my case, I'm having Fox use a kitsune mask to transform as Wolf has a mask too, explained in Chapter 2, but whether or not Wolf's mask allows him to transform or not I haven't decided on. I suspect I'll be asking Madame Bellatrix about that soon!

Long-winded. **R&R please! Chapter art is in my profile! =D  
**

* * *

Power.

The raw, electric essence of it coursed through me as I stood there stunned from how it swallowed and rocked my entire being. I felt a strange bliss for that few moments I stood there, light radiating off of me, swirling, dancing and glinting. Another small light appeared before me and from it, the silhouette of a kitsune formed from it and danced around me merrily in its feral manner. It was pure white with red marking all over its body and had a red-tipped tail, its eyes glowing gold. It closed in and wrapped itself about me, seeming to melt into the light shining off of me, making it brighter until the light burst, leaving me visible once more and sporting a new outfit. The first thing I noticed was that despite my right eye being covered with the mask, I could see perfectly, almost beyond perfectly. It was like a combination of normal and not normal, it was pretty hard to describe. I looked all around so I could adjust and besides a brief feeling of slight off-balance, I adjusted enough to be able to ignore it, so I glanced down at myself and ran my hands over the new attire I wore. Most everything was white with a red streak running down the length of it all and along borders. I had a mini shirt on with a dark mini jacket over it, a cascading tuft of cream colored fur on the left shoulder. My right arm had a white bicep length glove with red borders secured by a belt of the same design while my left arm had a large sleeve, also white, red and secured with a belt, of equal bicep length and worn on my hand was a cestus, the metal plating forming claws at the finger tips. My lower torso was exposed, the tight white and red pants I was wearing worn low enough that my tail could have easily just hung over the waist of the pants. The fit my legs snuggly and ended in boots that were part of the pants, the design blended perfectly together. Two black and red belts wrapped my waist, a long blue ribbon on my right side with a small scroll attached and a long drape of fur on my left side. Behind me, attached to the collar of my jacket, a small wild purple cape was flowing unnaturally, slow and steady like water. Along with it was a large, long blue ribbon that was flowing about in the same manner. Finishing looking myself over, I realized this outfit was just a variation of an outfit Wolf had gotten his hands on for me, claiming it was the 'perfect companion assassin outfit' in contrast to his own, though I suspect he only got it because it hugged me, fit me tight in all the right places and was plenty revealing. The hornwolf. The only difference now was the color scheme and the addition of extra attire and fur, making it more kitsune-themed. I was digging it.

"Ah, a fitting outfit I would say, Fox. It suits you quite well." I turned and looked up at the god who was smiling down at me as he spoke and couldn't help but smile as well at his words.

"Yeah, this is pretty much a modified replica of an outfit Wolf went through a lot of trouble to get for me, said I should replace my flight suit with it on ground missions. Honestly, I'm sure he just thinks I look sexy in it." I said with a chuckle.

"Never a bad thing I hear. If the attire and your appearance in it has come to mean something between the both of you, it's no wonder you would don a variation as you face down the one with whom it holds the most meaning. Now, Fox, close your eyes, deep breath and let the power speak to you. It shall be your humble guide through the rest of this ordeal." the god said. I nodded as I ran a hand over the mask.

"Thank you for this. I appreciate it more than I can express. If I may ask, what might your name be?"

"I am Kadin Thanatrynus, son of Griever Thanatrynus. Many simply know me as the God of Light." he answered as he began to vanish in a flurry of glowing feathers. "The time to fight is now. Good luck, Fox. I shall be watching."

I smiled as I watched him vanish and then closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath and trying to relax myself. It helped that I had a warm feeling running all around through me and I concentrated on that for a moment. When I felt ready, I opened my eyes to find Wolf mere feet away from me, staring me down. I grinned and grabbed my sword, blowing him a kiss before we both vanished from the spot in a blur of speed. It was an incredible rush, everything rushing by me so fast that it was merely a collection of streaked and blurred colors. The only thing in focus was Wolf who was moving with the same speed. We stopped abruptly and the sword clash began, moving all about the area in the blink of an eye.

It was then that I realized that Wolf had been seriously fucking with all of us the whole time. Even with my new speed and my new power aiding me, Wolf was still a handful. He nearly took my damn head off several times, but strangely I still found myself enjoying the bout and the feeling of the rush. Courting danger in the wake of Wolf was my specialty after all and I always loved it. I managed to grapple both his arms and snuck a kiss to his nose in which I think pissed him off as he threw me like a ragdoll afterward. I chuckled as I landed gracefully and send several waves of energy his way from my sword. As he dodged them and came at me again, I stuck my sword into the ground and grabbed the scroll at my hip, quickly opening it and scanning over its contents. It displayed kitsune techniques and how to perform them, pretty intricate stuff. Wolf was upon me before I could finish so I spent a few moments idly evading his attacks while I finished reading. When I did, I rolled it up, still evading Wolf and used a sudden Fox Flash to knock him back several yards. I put the scroll in my mouth and used my hands to form what the scroll called the Laughing Kitsune. When I did, several red paper lanterns appeared around me, flickering with light within. The scattered and swirled around Wolf as a massive tornado made up of a raging inferno of white flames spilled from the sky and engulfed the area the lanterns formed a large circle around, including Wolf. I don't know what I was expecting when I used that technique; the scroll called it 'Kitsunebi' which I knew meant 'Fire Fox', so I was expecting some kind of enhancement to my Fire Fox skill, not a controlled armageddon from the sky. I slowly put the scroll away, figuring I'd use it at a last resort seeing as it seemed to contain plenty of overkill. The lanterns vanished and the flames dispersed, revealing Wolf with his sword held up over him, his body steaming. Figures he'd be able to defend against even something like that, but I was ready to have my man back, so it was time to bring the games to an end. We both became blurs of speed once more, the clashing of our blades audible and visible as electricity and sparks were thrown everywhere when they made contact with each other. I hit the ground and sprung up just as Wolf tried to split me into two halves, switching the position of my sword in my hand. I whipped one of the long tassels up at him to psyche him out and get him to react, and in the heat of the moment, it worked, the lupine taking an instinctive swing at it as it got close to his face.

That was the only opening I needed.

I combined my Fox Flash with my new speed and even before Wolf could begin to react, I was on the other side of him, my sword held at the end of its arc. He remained still for several seconds before the huge gash appeared across his torso, glowing with a soft light. His coat began to slowly dissolve into black smoke, revealing the one I last saw him in before he went missing and all this started,rising up and away from him into the sky. When the entire coat was gone, his eyes lost that unnatural red glow and returned to normal, causing my chest to become tight with a mix of emotions, but mostly joy. How I missed those beautiful amethyst gems of his. My joy was short-lived though as his eyes slowly closed before his limply fell to his knees and then forward to hit the ground.

"Wolfus!" I went to my knees and rolled him over, pulling him up into my lap and checking his vitals. Still alive. I couldn't even begin to explain the amount of relief I felt at that moment. I cradled and cuddled him close, kissing his forehead and petting him lightly as I struggled to keep tears of happiness in check. I was about to turn and call Falco, Leon, Krystal and Panther over to help me get him out of here when I saw his eyes blink open and heard a low groan escape his throat.

"Welcome back, Wolf." I said with a smile. He blinked and looked around as if he had no idea where he was, and it was safe to assume he was probably pretty out of it in general.

"Fox… What the hell happened? Ugh… fuck, I feel like I wrestled a damn planet and got body-slammed by it." I couldn't help but chuckle at his ridiculous analogy.

"Something like that, Wolf. We'll talk about it later. Right now, we're getting you to a hospital so they can see if everything is all rig-"

"Fox! Wolfus! Look out! Above you!" Leon's voice shouted from across the field, grabbing our attention. We looked up and gasped as we saw a black creature hovering far above us. It looked like a phantom, with a few arcane-like accessories decorating it, a tall multi-sided hat, long golden claws and a face that looked like a thespian mask. There was no time to really get a good look at it though as apparently it had decided to hurl a huge sphere of energy at Wolf and I while we were distracted. I grabbed my sword, but I was then surprised to see Wolf react faster than me, already holding his as he threw himself up, hugging me close before he flashed out of the way, a blur for a second before stopping near Krystal, Panther, Leon and Falco who rushed to us as Wolf fell to one knee, panting out of breath.

"Wolfus! What are you doing, don't be fucking pushing yourself, you're going to mess yourself up!" I scolded, wrapping my arms around his torso to help hold him up. He just glanced at me and grinned that feral grin that had long since become his trademark.

"Sexy outfit, Pup. Diggin' the mask." he said simply. I sighed and smacked his shoulder in response.

"Wolfus. Don't change the subject. I'll handle this thing, you need to rest. Panther, Leon, I'm sure you can restrain your fearless leader? Krystal, if you would, heal him as much as you can, and Falco, contact Pepper, give him an update for me."

"Of course, Wolfus is a puppy in my hands." Leon said, kneeling next to Wolf who had a glare directed at him, Panther kneeling at his other side and patting the lupine's back.

"I'll do what I can, Fox." Krystal said, kneeling in front of Wolf and beginning her healing session as Falco pulled out his communicator to call Pepper.

"Anything specific I should tell him, Fox?" he asked me.

"No, just tell him that we've managed to secure Wolf and that the real enemy has been revealed. Let him know he can move out to offer back-up, but tell him not to engage. I don't want to be caught in the fire." I said, turning and walking back out to the field where that thing, the shayde, was floating about. Its mouth was an open frown as I approached, staring me down with pitch black eyes that gave me chills. I raised my sword and pointed it at the creature, my displeasure clear on my face.

"You're going to pay for what you did. You tried to take the most important person in my life away from me and I'll be damned if you're leaving here without facing my vengeance."

It just stared at me a moment before its mask morphed into a smile as I leaped at it.


	6. Hatred

**Author Note: **I'm too slooooow. We're almost done with all the power-wielding, I'm sure X3; Onward!

**Chapter art in my profile! R&R please 3**

* * *

Hatred.

That pretty much summed up everything I was feeling towards this freak of nature as I flew up at it in a mighty leap, though my face couldn't possibly relay just how much seething, blood red hate that was raging through me, making my blood boil. The last time I felt this much hate towards someone, I was making Andross my bitch for the third time and leaving nothing behind. I unleashed all my rage on this thing in front of me, quickly finding out that it was a fuckin' pussy compared to fighting Wolf. I surmised quickly that it was lacking in the physical attack department as all it could do for a long time was defend itself with some kind of shield, which brought me to the conclusion it was likely a heavy bionic type. Which meant all I had to do was be relentless, hopefully allowing it no time to cast. I stopped for a second to charge up my sword to bust through that damn shield, watching it shatter like glass when I swung hard vertically but to my folly that free few seconds was enough time for it to cast at me, suddenly finding myself hit with a huge fireball and plummeting to the ground, landing in a flaming heap. I hauled myself up, a wave of my hand dispersing the flames around me. Good to know I was immune to fire, but I really doubted that was the only bionic element the shayde possessed. Confirmation came as small meteors began to rain down at me, hopping around to dodge them all before hopping up and using them to leap back up. A larger one came at me as I got close and with some aerial acrobatics, a supercharge kick sent it slamming into the shayde, making it stagger back and bellow this unnatural sound. I grinned at the sight of the tormented look of its thespian mask face and taunted it when its face morphed into a glare.

Like a true McCloud, I decided to do something dumb without having all the facts, such as taunting the enemy without know the extent of said enemy's abilities.

I plummeted to the ground again as I blocked its golden nails that had suddenly extended and lunged at me, pushing me back. I bounced off the ground and sprang into blocking and dodging as they stabbed at me in gatling fashion. I winced as I started getting cut and impaled all over, having to start using my speed to move out of the way. He got me good in the side and through my ankle, making me hit the ground pretty fast. I rolled around, using Fox Flash to barely evade being impaled several times, losing my sword in the process. I went for my scroll, holding it in my mouth as I formed the Laughing Kitsune with my hands, getting nails through my shoulder while I was at it.

"Die, you fucking son of a bitch!" I shouted as the paper lanterns appeared and swirled around the damn thing, Kitsunebi raining down from the sky and engulfing it in white flames. I sighed in relief when its nails didn't keep coming. I laid there a moment catching my breath before trying to haul myself up, but before I could, a golden nail dug into my thigh and then tore all the way up through my torso and neck, leaving a horrendous gash. I was wide-eyed as it happened and clutched myself, trembling as agonizing pain shot through me. Blood was gushing from me all over, the world around me starting to go blurry as I watched the flames vanish and the shayde descend at me, a seriously pissed expression on its face. It came down mere inches from me, its face morphing into a happy smile before it laughed this deep, reverbing laugh, its empty eyes suddenly glowing.

And then it started forcing itself into me through my ears, nose and mouth.

My eyes went wide as I began to writhe and struggle, unable to breathe as a disgustingly sickly feeling started taking over my body. I processed that it must have been attempting to possess me like it did Wolf and I was beyond scared, unable to stop it.

"NO!" I faintly heard in the distance and then suddenly, Wolf was over me, purple flames raging everywhere. I felt something inside me jerk about, probably what bit of the shayde has gotten into me, and then abruptly get pulled back out. I gasped and coughed heavily, rolling onto my side as that sickly feeling stayed with me, making my stomach groan and roll. I shakily got up on my hands and knees when my stomach turned hard and I was overwhelmed with the need to vomit. I puked my breakfast onto the grass until there was nothing left in me but bile. When I was done puking up my guts, I found there was light on me in the shape of a small kitsune, running along my wound on my skin as if it was some kind of animated tattoo, healing the wound up pretty nicely. I then looked up to find the shayde and Wolf a ways away from me, Wolf struggling to get up as the shayde rushed towards me at top speed, a murderous look on its face.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" I shouted as I tried to force myself to stand and move. I was nearly knocked over again as Wolf was again suddenly upon me, holding me close as he used his sword to knock the shayde back with energy waves.

"Don't you even think to touch my fox, you goddamn filthy piece of shit!" he snarled in dominance. He grunted and fell to a knee again as he continued to glare, me grabbing him and supporting him again.

"Wolfus! Goddamn it, why can't you listen?" I yelled. He glanced at me and pulled me in closer, kissing my forehead.

"A promise is a promise, Pup. I promised you back at that motel on Papetoon I'd take care of you, that I'd protect you always. I'll be damned if I'm gonna break that promise."*

"Wolf, please… Don't do this, not now. You're about ready to keel over and all you can think about is being my Romeo? I want to protect _you_, Wolfus. You're in no condition to be doing this, you need to rest!" I insisted, pleading with him as best I could. But unfortunately Wolf's head is made of diamond.

"Well then, how about we kill this motherfucker and get this over with, Pup?" he said with a fangy smirk. I knew what _that_ meant and I was sure there was steam coming out of my ears at this point. Wolf could drive me to _insanity_ sometimes.

"WOLFUS! WHY ARE-" I began to flat out scream at him when he suddenly cut me off by grabbing me under the muzzle and planting his lips on mine. Warmth washed over me like a nova as my bones turned to jello, making me be pretty much collapsed against him now.

And other times, Wolf had me up on cloud nine.

The kiss only lasted a few long seconds, but it was deep and overflowing with passion. Even after it ended, my eyes were still closed in the sudden bliss that Wolf had hit me with like a freight train. When I finally regained at least some of my senses, my eyes opened slowly, though they remained a bit heavy and glazed over in bliss as if I was a love-struck teenager all over again. And of course that super fuckin' sexy feral grin of his was on his face.

"Mnnng… Damn it, Wolf…" I said. It was all I could say really. Seriously, Wolf kissed like a fucking _god_. It was usually all he had to do to make me his bitch or convince me of something, kind of like now. He chuckled, both because he knew I wouldn't deny him anymore and because he never got tired of springing kisses on me and watching me heat up like an inferno.

When I finally got all my senses back, I noticed Wolf actually managed to get the shayde to the ground, one of its arms missing; lying a few feet away from it was squirming in pain. Well, shit. I wish I was so good I could turn on my boyfriend _and _curb stomp supernatural monsters at the same time. He pulled off his overcoat, revealing his trademark simple form-fitting tank top as the shirt of choice most days, showing off his amazingly impressive lean musculature. It wasn't often I saw him in an actual shirt, he'd simply where a jacket or coat over his tank and he'd call it dressed to impress. He slung his coat over my shoulders before he jammed his sword into the ground, hand on the hilt, as energy began to flow up from it, through him and gather in his other hand. I sighed and placed my hand over his on the sword, letting him draw from my energy as fuel for his weakened state. He held his hand above his head as the purple energy began to form a flaring orb that rapid grew larger and larger. I could see the strain on his face, the sweat, as he tried to keep it under control and keep more energy flowing to it, but I'm sure it was proving a chore. He grit his teeth as his hand flexed and the massive orb above him suddenly began to shrink, more and more until it was miniscule, vibrating heavily as his hand trembled. Dark purple electricity started surging over the orb, shooting off in random directions and surging over Wolf as well. Somehow he had managed to condense it, but now it was extremely unstable. I could see veins starting to bulge all over his arms, neck and torso and it was making me really want to stop, but I didn't want to let him down, didn't want to be the cause of anything else going wrong, so I decided to see it through. Wolf took a step forward and held my hand tight, lowering his hand to point the condensed energy at the shayde on the ground.

"All right, freak. This is for all the shit you made me do, all the people you've killed and for daring to even_ think_ of harming MY fox! It's time to burn in Hell, you fucking piece of shit! Welcome to oblivion!"* He shot it at the shayde flailing on the ground, watching its face contort to horror as the little orb of energy slammed into it, exploding into a massive dome, the ground quaking as explosive energy flowed up the dome to meet at its top. It nearly engulfed Wolf and I with its sheer size, so I held Wolf close, who was now nearly passed out and panting heavily, and flashed back away to a safe distance. When I stopped, we were just in time to see negative energy get sucked into the dome before it collapsed in on itself and detonated, making the ground quake harder as a gargantuan pillar of purple-hued destructive energy rose high into the sky, probably several thousand feet. Multiple rings of shockwave energy expanded out from the pillar, the highest one pushing any and all clouds away. Though the one we had to worry about was the one running along the ground, huge chunks of earth rising up in its wake. I flashed again to an even greater distance, but I was getting seriously tired and felt like I only have a little swig of energy left, so I was relieved when I saw the shockwaves wane away and the massive pillar of death slowly dissipate, leaving only a massive crater, the wrecked landscape where it raged and no sign of the shayde. Yeah, that son of a bitch was toast. But then got me to thinking.

'Holy fucking shit… What would that have been like if Wolf was at his best _and _was using his mask? Good thing he isn't the bad guy people used to think he was. We'd all be _screwed_. Well, most of us anyway. I'd make _damn _sure to willing be his bitch. But no, my Wolf is a hero…'

He groaned and slacked on me more, making me almost fall over with him. That's all it took to drain the rest of my strength as I laid him down, collapsing atop him. He grinned as he looked down at me, his arm draping over my back.

"Can't resist me even when we're dead fuckin' tired, eh, Pup?" he said. I giggled and leaned up to kiss him, deep and passionate.

"You know I can't, Wolfy…" He licked my lips when I pulled back, his other hand petting me a few times before he lost consciousness. I laid my head down on his strong, muscular chest, murring quietly at the feel and sound of his heartbeat against me. I felt my mask's power drain off of me, losing my new attire and regaining my flight suit as the mask tumbled off my face to the ground. I reached over weakly and picked it up, holding it close as that bright light that had appeared once already bathed me again, drawing my eyes up. Kadin floated there, smiling down at me and I smiled back.

"Thank you… Thank you so, so much… You'll never know how much your help meant to me… You saved the man of my dreams… my world, my galaxy, my soul mate, my everything… my Wolfus…" He smiled wider and bowed to me as he vanished in a flurry of beautiful white feathers. I slowly slipped out of consciousness, the sounds of people calling me, engines of military vehicles and the propellers of helicopters the last things to register in my mind.

* * *

*(1) Reference to Madame Bellatrix's story _Shadowplay_~ Go read! s/9237099/1/Shadowplay

*(2) I'm sure you can guess where this line came from ;3


	7. Love

**Author****'s Note: **Last chapter! This was really fun to write and now that I've got the mishmash out of my system, I'll likely write more down-to-earth StarFox fiction, at least for a while! And I thank any and everyone who took the time to read this and then review it! I'm no writer as Ive mentioned, so feedback is necessary 3 **Chapter art in my profile! R&R please 3**

* * *

Love.

God, how I missed this feeling. I was sitting in Wolf's lap, my arms wrapped around his neck as he molested me on a bench outside the central Corneria courthouse. And I, of course, welcomed it, not caring about all the stares we got. It had been way too long since I had gotten to hold him and now that all the shit was finally over, everything could go back to normal and he could molest me all he wanted, anyway he wanted. I was much more used to it now, but I found myself still blushing some when he decided to go for that special spot on my neck that got me restless and lusty, kissing, licking and nipping at it as I gave him the quiet moans and gasps he was after.

See, I hadn't gotten to touch Wolf for the last two months since that shayde incident and vice versa thanks to the piece of trash Lindman. Apparently there were news droids flying around during most the battle between Wolf and me, Krystal, Leon, Falco and Panther, particularly when Kadin has appeared and given me the mask, so all of Corneria got to see most of what happened; including the Directors. So what I heard before I had lost consciousness was Krystal calling me and Lindman pulling up with most of Corneria's SWAT to arrest Wolf. I heard Leon and Panther tried to talk Lindman down, but he wouldn't even spare them a glance. He had Wolf arrested, me confined and confiscated my mask and Wolf's sword. Of course, I didn't know any of this when I awoke in a confinement room. Falco and Peppy visited me to tell me what had gone down while I was out. They kept avoiding my gaze as if there was something they didn't want to tell me, but I was getting a bit annoyed at it now.

"OK, what are you guys not telling me? Enough with the avoiding game, just spill it." I demanded. They glanced at each other and sighed, Peppy the one to speak up.

"The Directors got to the courts before Pepper and I could. Wolf has been charged with numerous counts of mass murder, among other things, and has been sentenced to death by electrocution…" He stopped when he saw the look at my face. My eyes were wide with disbelief, staring right through him as I tried to process what he had just told me. Death by electrocution? That method was hardly used anymore due to too many odds of it going wrong the first try and was deemed cruel and unusual years ago. So… that was it. They didn't just want Wolf dead, they wanted to satisfy personal grudges and have him suffer… They wanted my Wolfus to _suffer_… I was pretty sure my eyes had literally turned red as I spoke with white-hot rage.

"When is it?"

"Right now…"

"Get me the fuck out of here."

Within ten minutes I was finally free and running out of the facility with Falco when Panther and Leon pulled up in Panther's hover car, the window rolling down to reveal them.

"Get in." Leon said simply and we threw ourselves in as Panther sped off towards the Corneria maximum security prison. We arrived just in time to encounter General Pepper and several of his colonels who had come to stop the execution and call the Directors out on manipulation and withheld evidence that could possibly sway a jury. We pretty much stormed the place, making out way down the execution chamber. When I heard a faint scream coming from further on ahead, I practically flew down that hallway, bursting into the room to find a large seated group, including all the Directors, observing Wolf strapped to a chair on the other side of glass, writhing in agony as electricity crashed through him.

"Halt the execution at once!" Pepper demanded as I ran and kicked the door open to the room that held Wolf. The chair was shut down immediately and proceeded to unstrap Wolf as the Directors rose from their seats to confront Pepper.

"Pepper, what is the meaning of this? This is an execution of a mass murderer, you cannot simply barge in here and command it to stop! You hold no power here!"

"Save it, Kimbert. I know all about the stunt you all pulled in the courts and I just so happen to have the rest of the evidence you felt the need to withhold right here with me." Pepper said, holding up a folder. "I also convinced Judge Dantes to re-observe the case and let those who were present testify as to what happened, seeing as your Judge Nohman seemed to be nothing more than your lapdog. Here with me are all my colonels who were on duty with me during the event and shall also testify as to what happened."

Lindman scowled and stepped forward, a vessel in his head about to burst.

"Now, see here, Pepper! You forget your place! I will see you-" he started, but then was cut off by the warden walking in, a busty hyena whose beauty was simply a front hiding her true dominatrix nature. She scoffed at the old feline throwing a fit and stepped in front of him.

"Can it, Lindman! I run an honest prison here and no convict dies unless the court process is done right and the evidence is clear. I saw the news that morning; I knew something was off with your speech on the subject the next day. Just trying to bend everything into your favor because Wolf O'Donnell made you all look like pussies too many times to count and lost you a little cash with the other bigwigs. I have half a mind to- Actually, I think I will." She wound up and slammed her fist into Lindman's face, sending him sprawling with several of the Directors behind him. She kissed her fist in satisfaction and turned to saunter out. She knew her job wasn't in jeopardy; no sane person wanted to warden this particular prison as it was actually a space prison that would occasionally dock for several reasons, one being the Directors' paranoia of Wolf somehow managing to escape confinement, hijack a ship and take off running or vanish without a trace right under the noses of guards between Corneria and the prison.

After all, he'd done it before in true ninja fashion. And god did I find that sexy about him.

No one could hold him, no could tame him, no one could break him and I loved every bit of the wild beast that was Wolf O'Donnell. I was cradling said wild beast in my lap, making sure he was at least all right for the most part.

"Wolfus. Wolfus, baby, it's me, your Puppy. I'm here for you now." I said, trying to bring his senses back to full alert.

"Nnng... Hey, Puppy… Late to the party, you missed me being crowned the electric king…" he said, grinning up at me. Yep, he was fine. I sighed and couldn't help but smirk.

"Uh huh, I think I'd prefer you remain king of everything else you've self-crowned yourself, big guy."

* * *

For the next month, all of Wolf's friends, Pepper, surprisingly a lot of the military and even most of the families of the troops who were lost to the shayde fought in his defense. Wolf was allowed to remain out of prison, but the Directors made sure he was put into confinement and thoroughly chained up. During court, when the entire situation was thoroughly explained with all the proper evidence, people began to change their minds about everything and begin to see the web of deceit the Directors had laid out, but the bastards made it as hard as possible to proceed, thus why it took so damn long. Finally, after all the evidence has been analyzed for the fifth time, the jury moved to drop all charges on account the real enemy had been dealt with and wasn't actually Wolf. I thought I was gonna suffocate from all the tension when the jury spoke and sighed so heavily I almost slipped out of my chair with a heart attack when Wolf was declared free. But that wasn't the court date that ended with Wolf and I almost having sex in front of the courthouse, no no.

It was the one that followed a few weeks later.

I still hadn't gotten to so much as kiss Wolf after he was declared free for as soon as that was done, Pepper took me aside and explained that the Directors had fucked things up for Wolf on other planets as well. I didn't even say goodbye, I took off right then and there with Pepper as an envoy to clear Wolf's name on those other planets. It was actually easier than I thought it would be, much to my satisfaction. Meant I could back to Wolf faster. When I got back, I greeted with news that all the Directors were on trial for various crimes, most of which involved misuse or abuse of their power, such as having corrupt judges work cases they wanted going a certain way. I sure as hell didn't miss that court date, which was actually a few hours after I arrived. I saw Wolf again there as one of the people called to the stand, actually having a ton of shit to testify with that I didn't even know about and he even had the evidence to support it all. Needless to say, the now ex-Directors were screwed. They were all sentenced to thirty years of prison time, ironically, on the maximum security space prison. I was sure the warden would have lots of fun with them.

So that is when I nearly tackled Wolf in a hug, followed by a passionate kiss that resulted in him carrying me out of the courthouse and plopping down on a bench. All the shit was over; we didn't want to wait any longer to feel each other. So we enjoyed each other's company for a while there, talking, making out, he even asked me out on a date again, to which I almost interrupted him saying yes. As he was about to devour my maw again, we spotted Leon coming towards us. I waved as he approached and then noticed objects in his possession. When he stopped on the other side of the bench, he handed them both to use. One was my mask wrapped in cloth and the other was Wolf's sword in a case.

"I took the liberty of getting these back seeing as you two seem to have forgotten about them."

"Aw shit… That's right, Granny Claire…" Wolf said, his ears dropping some.

"Hey, I bet she'd let you keep it if you go and apologize like a good puppy." I said with a giggle, which awarded me a thump to the nose. Leon brushed the side of Wolf's face and grinned.

"If people are sharp enough to notice this, they might wonder if you're a cyborg, Wolfus."

And that's when I noticed he didn't have his compound eye unit anymore, an almost invisible circuitry outlet behind his left eye, looking like needle entry points that probably lead through his sphenoid to a component of his cybernetic eye. Like his fur, it was silver so it was impossible to notice unless you were really close.

"Lost it in the underground prison. Not too keen on goin' back in so soon." Wolf said, shrugging off the loss of his eye unit. That's when Leon produced it from his coat pocket and held it up.

"Seriously, Wolfus. Don't lose this, or your eye. You know these would probably be considered highly illegal in most systems simply due to the sheer amount of fuck-you they can produce. Shutting down whole space stations, remotely launching nukes, hacking anything with a wire in it, particle beams, these are some serious hardware. Don't forget, Beltino made sure these were unique, as in, he won't be able to build replacements and I'm sure you aren't interested in downgrading. He had all the schematics and extra components destroyed so no one else could make more." he said, shaking his head with a sigh. "Still just a puppy."

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya, _Dad_." Wolf replied mockingly.

"Don't sass me, boy. Listen to your dad." Leon said in equal mocking before pretty much slamming the unit into Wolf's head, giving it a good smack to make sure the circuitry was fitted in all the way, causing Wolf to recoil in pain.

"AHH! SON OF A BITCH, POWALSKI! YOU DON'T FUCKIN' PUNCH ME WITH THE FUCKER! YOU ATTACH IT GENTLY! Graaaaaaah…"

"Wolfy, you're sexy when you're angry." I said mischievously, resting my head on his shoulder. This got me a death glare in response, which I somehow found equally sexy. What the fuck was wrong with me?

"I'm about to hulk-smash your ass!"

"Have fun." Leon said, turning and leaving us alone there on the bench. Wolf growled and turned his attention back to me as he tested out his eye unit. The lens shot from the side of his head along the components of the little device and hooked itself to the end, resting over his eye now as the mini blue projector lens lit up as the device gave a small electronic ping.

"… Now, where was I? Ah, yes." He held me close, going for that special spot on my neck and making me gasp and clutch his chest. Before I knew it, I was lying down on the bench with him over me, my hands roaming under his shirt. He felt beefier than I remembered; perhaps being the host of a shayde was a good workout. I also felt something else that was all too familiar down in his pants grinding on me. It was seriously hard to miss; it was like a fuckin' python in his pants. As much as it wrecked me though, he always made me shamelessly beg for more. As turned on as I was, I at least figured we should take it somewhere private, so with a lot of effort, I got Wolf off me and we caught a bus home. When we finally arrived at my place, we tore each other's clothes off on our way to the bedroom, leaving us both bare when we got there. He threw me onto the bed and pounced on me, loving on my body like never before. I spent the next several hours arching my back, squirming, moaning, screaming in the wake of his feverish passion, begging for more and more in all my shamelessness. After all, in bed, I was his bitch.

And I never wanted it any other way.


End file.
